


Happy Birthday, Miss Grant

by BridgetteIrish



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Presents, F/F, Surprise Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-21 08:55:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,993
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6045568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BridgetteIrish/pseuds/BridgetteIrish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cat Grant hates surprises.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Surprise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fictorium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictorium/gifts).



> This is a birthday present for the fabulous fictorium.  
> Happy Birthday Noble Lady, and so many more.
> 
> Thanks ever so to those who gave this a once-over  
> rtarara  
> writerstealth

The copy of the birth certificate arrived certified mail to Kara’s apartment. There was no way she could risk having it mailed to the office where it could fall into the wrong hands.  She would record the date and burn it with her heat vision.  Nobody would ever know she even procured it.

 

She tore open the envelope.  Parents and hospitals and doctor’s signatures were immaterial.  She just needed the date.  

 

She couldn’t help, however, tracing the tiny inked footprints on the corner of the page.  Cat’s footprints.  It brought a smile to her face.

 

February 17, 1966.  Cat Grant would be turning 50 in a little over two weeks.  Kara needed to get busy.

 

+++++++++++

 

“Kara, I am telling you, this is a terrible idea.”  James was adamant that he wouldn’t help her.  Winn had practically fainted at the thought and even mischievous Lucy was giving her a bit of the side-eye over the idea.

 

“Why?  Everyone likes a party, and it’s her birthday!  Why wouldn’t she want to celebrate.”

 

“Cat Grant hasn’t disclosed her real age since she worked at the Daily Planet.  I’ve heard the horror stories from Lois and Clark about people who asked her age.  That ‘I could eviscerate you with my eyes’ look she has is no joke, Kara.  You’ve seen it.  Besides, Cat  _ hates _ surprises.”

 

Kara scoffed.  “Nobody hates surprises, James.  She may pretend to hate it, but deep down everyone loves to be thrown a party in their honor that they don’t have to plan.”

 

Lucy did let out an ironic laugh at this.  “Cat ‘Control Freak’ Grant not plan her own birthday party?  I changed my mind.  This I have to see.  Do you have a deathwish Danvers?”

 

“Geez you guys.  She isn’t that bad.  You don’t see what I see.  She’s mean and prickly on the surface but she… has a soft side too.”  Kara’s voice and face softened and she began to fidget.  Lucy recognized the signs, even if James didn’t.

 

“Uh oh.” Lucy said in a sing-song tone.  “You like her.”

 

“Well, yeah.” Kara said, confused.  “I couldn’t have worked for her this long without at least sort of liking her.”  She cocked her head at Lucy like an inquisitive puppy.

 

Lucy stole a look at James who shook his head and turned away, pretending to be busy with a series of images on his desk.  She reached out and patted Kara’s forearm, placating her and not wanting to push the issue further.  Lawyer Lucy wanted to know more, but Friend Lucy won out.  “I’ll help you plan the party.  The boys would be useless at it anyway.”

 

“Oh, thank you Lucy.  You won’t be sorry, I promise.”

 

Lucy lifted one eyebrow as Kara left the room.

 

“A surprise party for the boss who hates surprises?” James put a gentle arm around her.  “It was nice knowing you, Luce.  Just make sure I get the ring back  _ before _ she murders you with her sword-shaped letter opener?”  He pecked her on the cheek and turned back to his photos as Lucy left the room, wondering just what she’d gotten herself into.

 

++++++++++++++++

 

The Executive Club on the top floor of CatCo Tower was the perfect place to throw the party and with the added bonus of Kara not having to shell out-of-pocket to rent a swanky party room somewhere.  

 

Lucy had been a godsend, making phone calls, arranging decorations, ordering the right booze and beer and wine.  Kara had handled invitations (small, only 50 or so), catering (Cat’s favorite sushi joint) and entertainment (a singer-songwriter who had just released her first LP and was garnering moderate attention for it.)  Kara thought, at the end of the day, she may be someone Cat would want to invest in, given her interest in obscure music ventures.

 

When guests began to arrive, Kara hovered and fussed and made sure everyone was happy before quietly texting Cat, who was still working several floors below.

 

Sneaking away from Cat towards the end of the workday hadn’t been an issue.  She’d been pulling that particular magic trick since her first appearance as Supergirl, but getting Cat to come to her could prove much trickier.  So, she played on Cat’s inherent curiosity.

 

_ I’m getting the E-Club ready for the board next week.  I found something I think you should see. _

 

_ I’m a little busy, Kiera, what is it? _

 

_ Miss G. I think you should just come up here. _

 

There was a long pause before the next text.

 

_ Fine _

 

A shy smile spread across Kara’s face as she pocketed her phone.

 

“OK, people!  Showtime!  Find your hiding spots!”  She watched proudly as the room full of wealthy socialites, well-dressed employees and a couple of B-list celebrities ducked behind tables and squeezed into darkened corners.  “The cue is ‘Happy Birthday, Miss Grant,’ okay?”  A chorus of affirmative mumbles was heard and then silence.

 

Kara grabbed a chilled glass of champagne and took her place in the center of the room.  She smoothed down her garnet cocktail dress, adjusted her glasses and faced the elevator.

 

+++++++++++++++

 

Cat always worked late on her birthday.  Carter knew they would not be celebrating and, in any case, was with his father on Wednesday nights anyway.  Today was just another reminder of how much of her life had already passed and how little time she had left to accomplish so very much more.

 

She had rolled her eyes at the silly card Kara left on her desk that morning.  It was exceedingly pink and said something suitably sentimental on the inside, complete with Kara’s neat scrawl, “Happiest of Birthdays, Miss Grant, and so many more.”  The sunniness of it made her cringe all over again.  

 

How her assistant had found out her birthday she didn’t ask, but it was a matter of public record and her assistant’s ability to dig up difficult information was one thing she liked most about her.  She’d written the card off as an anomaly and got down to business.  The small gift at lunchtime was unexpected and surprisingly tasteful.  A bottle of whiskey, distilled and barrel aged at a local place upstate, with a handwritten batch and bottle number and tied with a white ribbon, sat on her desk when she returned from her lunch meeting.  It dared to call itself bourbon, despite being several hundred miles away from Kentucky, but she had cracked the seal halfway through the afternoon and it tasted like bourbon, warm and sharp and smoky on her tongue.

 

Cat Grant hated surprises, but Kara Danvers seemed to break all her rules.

 

The first text from Kara could be easily dismissed.  Cat knew when she was being baited and she really was busy.

 

The second text felt… mischievous somehow, like maybe coming upstairs would be very much worth her while.  She stole a glance at the cheesy birthday card and remembered the taste of sublime whiskey on her tongue and a thousand fantasies of Kara, alone in the Executive Club raced through her mind all at once.  Kara at the piano.  Kara behind the bar.  Kara waiting outside the elevator with a glass of champagne and a fresh coat of lipstick.  Kara framed by moonlight on the terrace overlooking the city.  It was no longer a question of if she was going upstairs, but how long she would make Kara wait.

 

Not long at all, it turned out as her fingers typed her response.  She’d drank a little more of that divine whiskey through the afternoon than was entirely appropriate and some of her walls were down.

 

_ Fine. _

 

++++++++++++++

 

Kara took a deep breath as the elevator dinged and the door slid open.  Cat greeted her with a smile and Kara held out a glass of champagne.  She wanted to make sure Cat got at least one sip down her throat before springing people on her.

 

Cat drank, looking at Kara over her champagne glass with a strange, pleased expression.  Kara opened her mouth to speak but Cat beat her to it.  “You look beautiful, Kara.”

 

Kara stammered and couldn’t get her line out.  Cat had called her by her real name and was now closer than she had been a second ago.  “Th-Thank you?” was all that came out.  But that wasn’t the line!  What was the line again?  Cat was close enough now that Kara could feel the warmth of her body and smell her custom perfume.  Kara tried again to speak the right words.  She could feel a hundred eyes hidden throughout the room trained silently on her, watching the scene unfold.

 

Cat spoke before her again.  “Thank you for the gifts, Kara.  You know I don’t celebrate my birthday, but for some reason, I allow you… exceptions.”

 

Kara swallowed and shook her head a bit to try to clear it.  She was supposed to say something.  What was it?  Birthday.  It is Cat’s birthday, and a roomful of people were waiting to hear her say it.  She opened her mouth one final time.  “Ha-”

 

She was thwarted again, this time by Cat Grant’s warm, soft, wine-flavored lips stopping her own.  A slender hand was curled around her neck, just below her updo.  She moved her lips against Cat’s just a bit, savoring the moment and breathing deeply through her nose before pulling away and meeting Cat’s eyes with her own, swimming with uncertainty.

 

“Happy Birthday, Miss Grant.”

  
“SURPRISE!”


	2. The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara "I'll fix it, I promise" Danvers to the rescue.

Cat’s eyes went wide.  Her hand squeezed Kara’s neck enough to elicit a gasp from the younger woman.  The champagne glass fell to the parquet floor with a shatter and Kara spun and watched helplessly as Cat escaped to the terrace, slamming the French doors behind her.

 

She stood in a puddle of champagne and looked around the room at the people there to celebrate the woman who had just kissed her and stormed away.

 

The tension in the room was palpable and the awkward silence oppressive.  Kara fought through her embarrassment and squared her shoulders.  “Everyone, have a drink.  Clara,” she looked at the singer, poised at the piano, “go ahead and start, something upbeat, if you have it.  I’ll… see to the birthday girl.”  She looked out the French doors at Cat Grant’s back, hunched and tense.  She detoured to the bar, poured two fingers of Cat’s usual bourbon and smiled sadly at Lucy, who was standing next to James near the bar.  “You were right, Lucy.”  She released a mirthless laugh.  “God, you were right about everything, even the stuff I didn’t know about.”

 

Lucy squeezed her arm.  “It’ll be okay, Kara.  She’s never been able to stay mad at you for long.”

 

Kara took a deep breath and crossed the room.

 

++++++++++++++++

 

Cat had been such a fool.  Too many afternoon tumblers and one too many nights dreaming of Kara Danvers hair and arms and smile and she had thrown herself at her young assistant like a mustache twirling villain in a melodrama.  Omar Dastardly tying Truly Goodhart to the railroad tracks over a bottle of whiskey and a pretty card.  And to have done it all in front of a room full of her friends and colleagues.  She squeezed her eyes shut and willed the memory from her mind.  She didn’t even have a drink to help her forget.

 

As though reading her mind, once again, the French doors opened and the tentative steps on the concrete could only belong to Kara.  Nobody else had that gangly, knock-kneed stride.  At least she had the grace to shut the doors behind her.  “Miss Grant.”  The voice was tiny.  Terrified.  Good.  Cat wanted her terrified.  Cat wanted her off balance and sick and sad.  Cat wanted her.  “I’m so sorry.”  Kara dared to shuffle forward and lay the bourbon precariously on the flat top of the railing.  Cat took a grateful sip, but did not say thank you.

 

Cat’s head drooped and she squeezed the railing tighter, until her knuckles went white.  “You’ve outdone yourself, Sunny Danvers.”  She was proud of her bitter, cold tone.  She was in danger of crying and as long as the bitter came first, she’d be able to hold them off, just long enough to get this woman out of her life.  This woman held far too much power in those manicured fingertips.

 

She heard Kara’s world weary sigh.  “I just wanted you to have a nice evening.  I thought it would be fun.  I thought everyone liked surprises, deep down.”   

 

“Tell me, Kiera.  How many people advised you against this?”  

 

She could almost hear Kara’s smile.  “Everyone.”  She turned back to the door.  “I’m going to check the party, make sure the tension is suitably broken, then I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”

 

Cat didn’t answer, but kept her gaze fixed on the National City skyline.

 

+++++++++++++++

 

Kara made her way quickly around the room, ensuring that everyone had enough to eat and drink and letting them know that once she shook off the shock, Cat would be joining them soon.  She knew it was a lie, and they likely knew it too.  Cat Grant would only return to this room because there was no other way out.

 

Clara Barrows, tonight’s hired entertainment was sipping a glass of red wine and leaning against the piano when Kara made her way to the stage.  “I’m sorry tonight was such a bust, Clara.  I didn’t mean to get your hopes up about Cat.  It was a pretty stupid thing for me to do.” They both smiled.

 

“I don’t know.” Clara shrugged.  “I haven’t written a love ballad in three years and since witnessing that kiss a few minutes ago, I have thirty-two of the best bars of music I may have ever written locked in my head, and lyrics to match.  The two of you are something else.”  Clara sat back down at the piano and began to play.

 

Kara smiled softly.  She knew this song.  It was a favorite of hers when she went on a painting jag.  She had filled several canvases big and small with this very song on repeat in her apartment until the goth chick downstairs had started making loud vomiting noises into the heating vents.

 

Clara began to sing.  Her voice had a dark, wine-soaked, husky quality, low and sexy.  As she came to the chorus, she met Kara’s eyes, inviting her to join.  Kara raised her eyebrows, surprised, but joined in anyway.  Kara’s voice lifted to the rafters.  It was high and clear and melded harmoniously with Clara’s.  The song was sweet, a little bit funny and halfway through the two were smiling through the words.  Kara felt a little bit of weight lift, until she looked up and saw Cat Grant standing in the open doorway of the terrace, eyes hopelessly fixed on her.  She kept singing.  She didn’t know what else to do.  But her gaze never left Cat’s.

 

++++++++++++++++

 

Cat watched as the song finished.  She had abandoned her drink when Kara’s intoxicating voice floated through the doors.  When Kara’s gaze finally faltered and she turned to thank the pianist, Cat turned away again and disappeared to the end of the terrace, away from humiliating eyes.

 

Kara pressed a sweet kiss to Clara’s cheek.  “I’ll be in touch,” she said simply.

 

She then snuck across the room and asked a favor of James.  “In five minutes, I need you to create a diversion.  I’m going to get Cat out of here.”  James nodded and squeezed her shoulder.  Lucy gave her a soft smile, but not without that knowing twinkle she always seemed to possess.

 

Cat was not where Kara had left her, so she made her way down the terrace and around the corner, where she leaned against the railing again, facing the building, clutching her glass, but not drinking.

 

Kara channeled Supergirl and approached Cat, prepared for whatever punishment was forthcoming.  None came.  “You sing beautifully,” was what came out instead.  “You do everything beautifully.” Cat scoffed.  “You even cower beautifully.”  There was no point in hiding her attraction any longer.  The cat was out of the bag, so to speak.  

 

“I’m not cowering anymore, Miss Grant.  I’m here to rescue you.”  Kara reached up and removed her glasses.  She plucked four large hairpins from her updo and her hair fell about her face.  She heard Cat’s heart stutter at the motion.  For a few seconds she was gone, no more than a few blinks of an eye and when she returned she was in full Supergirl regalia.  “You don’t even have to go back in the room.”

 

Cat was stunned.  She knew, of course, on an intellectual level that Kara was Supergirl.  She’d never really been fooled, but seeing the transformation was something she was unprepared for.  “They’ll wonder where I’ve gone.”

 

“I’ve got that covered.”  Kara held out her hand and Cat took it tentatively.  Kara drew her close, gently and silently drew first one, then the other arm up to rest on her shoulders.  She wrapped one strong arm around her waist and the other hand cradled Cat’s neck, to hold her steady on the ascent.  She bent slightly at the knees so their faces were level.  “Ready?”  It was almost a whisper.

 

Cat nodded and they were off.

 

++++++++++++++++++

 

They landed on Cat’s penthouse balcony with little fanfare.  Cat was curled around Kara, face buried in her neck, trembling with chill and fear.  

 

“You missed the best part.” Kara said gently setting her down.  She reached behind her neck and took Cat’s wrists in hers, unlacing the knots of her fingers and soothing them with gentle caresses.

 

Cat looked up at her.  “I assure you, I did not.”

 

Kara couldn’t resist pushing Cat’s windblown locks off her face.  “I’m sorry about tonight.  I messed up.”

 

Cat took a deep breath.  “You’ve always been able to break my rules, Supergirl.”

 

“I’m about to break one more,” Kara said slyly.

  
She leaned down and captured Cat’s lips with her own.


End file.
